boxer or the bag

Couple things; I’ll go ahead and mention this first because I have to. Jeff Mangum recently announced his Winter 2012 tour dates, and as promised, this includes the 40 Watt here in Athens. He’ll be playing not just one but two nights! Also announced was an Atlanta date at the Variety Playhouse, so he’s finally giving his E6 hometown/state some love, which I’m ecstatic about. The fact that he’s still sticking to intimate venues, like clubs, midsize theatres, and churches is also pretty great, despite how hard that makes it to obtain tickets. (On that note, I had to say no to Radiohead at Philips Arena, which went on sale the same week–why the big corporate venues and $70 tickets? Of course, it still sold out quickly.)

I knew how fast Toronto sold out, so I had to be on it if I wanted the tickets. I didn’t want to risk depending on a website if I didn’t have to, so I scoped out Wuxtry on Friday morning, where tickets went on sale at noon. Pretty pleasant experience compared to fighting an error-laden website–I got in line at 11, talked to some other nice folks who were waiting, and I had tickets in my hand by 12:15:

So there’s that. Also, I think I’ve found my movie of the year: 50/50. I caught it at Ciné a couple weeks ago (it’s more mainstream than what they normally play), and it’s a fantastic movie that pretty much everyone should see. A lot about it has stuck with me, including the music. I found most of the songs on Spotify and made my own soundtrack, since an official soundtrack doesn’t exist…and I recommend you do the same, whether you’ve seen the movie or not. Here’s the soundtrack, from top to bottom:

Do you know what a private company is? Do you understand the difference between public and private venues for speech? Do you understand a company offering their free service to you is not obligated to put up with certain kinds of speech that harm their business? https://t.co/7Jj3HJ6D5q

This plus:
- No more algorithms
- No more "we thought you would like" bullshit
- No more sponsored posts
- Downvoting/upvoting with daily caps on # of votes
- Nextdoor-like verification requirements on all social media (controversial but it would work)